Explore Engage Excel

Southern Utah University

Lynn White, Ph.D.

Health Behavior Intervention Project

Goal: use what you will learn about health behaviors and behavior modification to modify either a) daily step counts b) water intake c) consumption of added sugars d) soda intake, or e) face touching (your own). Note that you are doing this intervention on yourself.

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This is a two-part project.

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In phase one, you will: conduct a mini-literature review on the behavior you chose to modify, track and record the behavior for one week to get a baseline, identify variables that are controlling the behavior, take a self-assessment to try and figure out what motivates you, and based on all this - develop a plan to change the behavior. Note that your plan will need to include an excel graph: days of the week on the x-axis and the frequency (or amount) of the behavior on the y-axis.

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DO NOT PROCEED TO PHASE 2 until I have reviewed your plan and provided you with the official green light.

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In phase 2, you will put your plan into action! You will record your behavior for three weeks. Finally, you will summarize the results and reflect on the intervention: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Note that you will need to include two excel graphs: one for the baseline data and one for the three-week intervention data. Alternatively, you can put all this information into one graph as long as everything is clearly labeled. A video guide to graphing in excel is below.

Click here

This project will take some time - plan accordingly! This project is worth 25% of your grade. How well you do does not depend on whether you succeed at changing your behavior. It will depend on your attention to detail, self-insight, your ability to find and articulate relevant literature, the thoroughness of the plan, your understanding of behavior change techniques, and your ability to follow instructions. Please use the Health Intervention Checklist below to help you stay on track.

I have posted a template for each phase of the project below. You will be filling these out directly in Canvas. Look at both templates ASAP to learn a lot more about what is expected.

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I will post a grading rubric, but note that it will not be easy to receive an A. This will be reserved for students who invest the time and demonstrate a level of competence that is clearly at a professional level.